Welcome to Musical Progress

I wrote this song 15 years ago. I call it my song with attitude show here by the lyrics.

Another song from Lives in the Balance which questions blind patriotism.

Jackson Browne has lots of of great protest songs. This title track from a 1986 album is no exception to that rule. "Where a Government Lies to it's people". He was talking about Reagan's cabal at the time, but it's sad how things haven't changed in 20 years.

This non-conformist anthem recalls the true story of how a young folk musician avoided the draft during the Vietnam war. Check out the tribute to Officer Obie too if you can. Its tradition at some radio stations to play Alices Restaurant on Thanks Giving.

I rarely like musicals and have never seen South Pacific in its entirety. This song came to my attention while watching a documentary. I was wonderfully surprised how bold this song-crafting team were. I dont think their work has lost any of its potency and importance. This is a powerful piece.

The third and final installment in the WalMart trilogy. This time it's a first person point of view as though I am the "labor relations board" at WalMart. Squashinig Unions whenever they pop up.
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The second of the WalMart trilogy. This one tells the story of Suzy the seamstress who loses her job because her job is shipped to India.
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Here is the first of my trilogy of WalMart songs. This one is from the point of view of a family business owner in a small town that gets wiped out by WalMart moving into town.
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I have written a song that, hopefully encapsulates the main points of George Lakoff's "Don't Think of an Elephant". I have a rough mix recording of it and posted.
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Here's a song I wrote in 1987 that I just rediscovered. I have this on tape, when I get it into digital form, I will post it here. It's a song about tolerance and acceptance.

Here's a song I wrote that is a history lesson, a call to action, and hopefully an athem for a new movement. We must resist...
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Mark Knopfler weaves an apt metaphor for predatory capitalsm into this account of the establishment of a huge American monopoly.

Defenders of "free enterprise" like to say that competition improves products and services. The problem is that monopolies suppress competition and initiative. Market domination by a small number of companies imposes a dreary uniformity on our economic landscape. What's so free about that?

Poor people get desperate when they lose jobs in factories or in Mexico's maquiladoras. Their small incomes don't allow them to save money, and they don't receive advance notice or severance pay when they're laid off. Extreme poverty can tempt even honest and kind-hearted people to get involved in risky, illegal activities, like low-level drug trafficking.

I think this song is progressive because there are very few songs out there that encourage people to pick themselves up and think about the future.

I think this song is progressive because it shows how people want to pity themselves and get angry when no one listens, even the singer of this song (who is complaining about the same situation)

This version of a traditional folk song was recorded by Irish singer Delores Keane on the album "Broken Hearted I'll Wander". The song is a lament for a young man who has been taken from his wife to fight in a war far from home. Families suffer deeply when governments try to expand their spheres of influence abroad. We should work to establish a government which will refrain from demanding too much from young families.

Johnny Clegg and Savuka comprised a progressive band from South Africa. This song was written in 1986, when black South Africans were not allowed to vote. I think the song is appropriate in 21st century America. Progressives have every reason to be deeply concerned about voter suppression, long lines at polls in minority neighborhoods caused by a shortage of voting machines, and the questionable accuracy of electronic voting machines.

Human beings need the Earth. Earth doesn't need us. If we're reckless, thoughtless and irresponsible, we'll be the ones to suffer from the consequences of our actions. Progressives have been warning about unrestrained energy consumption, unsustainable agriculture, and global warning for a long time now. Will we listen?

Arguably America's most famous folk song, this Woodie Guthrie number has storied past, some of which is chronicled in the Wikipeadia. I have included the 1956 lyrics, and included some different lyrics from 1945 after that.

Most people are not off spring of the rich and powerful. Most of the rich and powerful are the antithesis of progressive values. With song, John Fogerty clearly places himself with the rest of us. This was a Viet War era anthem for the class of folks who had to go to war and die vs. those who "had better things to do".